More than 70 million specimens from 100 collections across the UK are to be brought together in an online digital museum, in a project aimed at using artificial intelligence to open up the country’s natural history holdings.
The initiative will create a single digital resource from material currently held by collections around the UK. By combining the specimens online, it is intended to provide a broader view of the evidence they contain about the planet’s history.
The project reflects the scale of the collections involved, with more than 70 million specimens due to be included. Artificial intelligence is central to the effort, although the supplied information does not detail how the technology will be used or when the digital museum will become available.
Once created, the online museum will bring together material from all 100 participating UK collections in one place. The latest position is that the specimens are planned for inclusion in the digital resource; no further details about its timetable or operation have been provided.